The foremost common natural polymers are carbohydrate-based polymers or polysaccharides, having a long chain of monosaccharide or disaccharide units linked together via a glycosidic linkage to form a complex structure. There are several uses of carbohydrate-based polymers in biomedical sector due to its attractive features including less toxicity, biocompatibility, biodegradability, high reactivity, availability, and relatively inexpensive. The aim of our study was to explore the synthetic approaches for the preparation of numerous carbohydrate-based polyurethanes (PUs) and their wide range of pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. The data summarized in this study shows that the addition of carbohydrates in the structural skeleton of PUs not only improve their suitability but also effect the applicability for employing them in biological applications. Carbohydrate-based units are incorporated into the PUs, which is the most convenient method for the synthesis of novel biocompatible and biodegradable carbohydrate-based PUs to use in various biomedical applications.
Cardiac arrhythmias often present to family physicians with diverse clinical manifestations. This retrospective observational study was carried out in a private cardiology clinic in Dhaka from July 2004 to December 2008. A total of 1257 patients were referred from family physicians in the locality. 75 (5.96%) patients were diagnosed as having cardiac arrhythmia by ECG. Various types of atrial arrhythmias are more common than ventricular arrhythmias (60% vs 40%). Atrial fibrillation (N=18) and PVC (N=17) are the 2 commonest arrhythmias found in this study. This study identifies the clinical presentation, possible aetiology and management of patients having cardiac arrhythmias. Palpitation (46.66%) and asymptomatic ECG changes (34.66%) were the 2 most common reasons for referral. Most of the patients could be managed on a out-patient basis. Most arrhythmias like 1st degree heart block, PAC & isolated PVC, RBBB, Sinus bradycardia were asymptomatic & did not need any further treatment except assurance & anxiolytics. Other arrhythmias like atrial fibrillation, LBBB, bifascicular or advanced heart block, SSS & SVT needed further evaluation. This article particularly focuses on the general approach of family physicians while dealing with patients with cardiac arrhythmias. Key words: cardiac arrhythmias, family medicine practice doi: 10.3329/uhj.v5i1.3435 University Heart Journal Vol. 5, No. 1, January 2009 17-19
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